...And They Have A Photographic Memeory To Boot !

I have a brother in law that was blessed with the ability to never forget anything he studies, sees, reads, etc.  He is of the type that was doing serious software programming when he was in Junior High School.  He was doing advanced language research in High School.  He would entertain himself by reading Calculus books, etc.  He did so well in college that he rode the Homecoming float instead of a beautiful royalty!  He has held lead developer and project lead positions for several companies.  He continues to play an important architect role for a large software developer today.  The only downside, like with so many smart geniuses, is that he has no personality.  He has a very difficult time interacting in social situations.

Yes, I am very jealous of my brother in law.  I, too, am a programmer, but I have earned (through blood, sweat, and lots tears) everything that I have.  I have and continue to work for good companies, but getting to those companies has been difficult.

I recall being a part of a group of interviewers at one company and having a friend put an extremely complex piece of code on the white board.  The gentleman that was interviewing had to then tell the group what the code did and how it worked.  Now this code was not realistic programming, just designed to work out, well stress out the interviewee.

So I sat as a part of the interview, and when I came my turn, asked the gentleman a few basic questions and moved on.  I felt bad for the gentleman when pushed into a corner to dissect my co-worker's code.  However, I have been in interviews just as bad where they want you to code a solution before a group, or design a full-out database-driven solution.  Needless to say, interviews are lots of fun!

I have actually dreamed what it would be like to have a photographic memory -- to remember the faces of everyone you met with their names.  I have known some very public figures that had this ability.  My Father did it the hard way.  He taught for a big-name university for many years.  Each semester he would bring a photographer in to each of his classes and have them photograph each student holding a name card.  He would memorize each face/name.  Then, during the semester, he was able to call on students by name.  I have to believe he had some sort of photographic memory to memorize that many students names.  However, it did pay off for him.  He won Teacher of the Year for over ten years in a row.  The university eventually gave him a prized teacher award and made him ineligible to receive the Teacher of the Year award anymore.

Sometimes, well a lot of times, I feel quite stupid since I can't remember everything about a particular subject.  The Internet is a great thing for refreshing a person's mind.  If you were not blessed with a photographic mind, the Internet can most definitely provide a viable backup.

So, yes, I admit I am jealous of my brother in law.  I wish I could remember all things.  I wish I could read a book on Perl programming and remember everything in that book, having it be recalled before my very eyes.  But alas, it doesn't work that way for me.  I am more like RAM that needs to be continually refreshed -- I have to re-study concepts that I learned many years ago or even months ago.  Somehow, I suspect that most of you are like me.  So, go out and make the best of you life!

Till next time,
Bill